Futurist decision set for January

Carl Gavaghan

A decision on the fate of the Futurist Theatre has again been delayed.

The decision date for the building has now been pushed from July to September to October and then finally it was due to be discussed on Monday.

However, when Monday’s Full Council agenda was published the Futurist was nowhere to be seen and is now provisionally slated for a January decision.

The council plans to demolish the building in order to make way for a Flamingo Land resort to be built on the site.

Patricia David, one of those fighting to retain the theatre, said the council’s wall of silence approach was the reason that so many rumours were flying around the town.

“They just say nothing and it leads to speculation,” she added. “There were rumours about the demolition and about Flamingo Land pulling out. Only the council can stop this by coming out and saying what is going on.”

When contacted by The Scarborough News a spokesman for Flamingo Land said that “nothing had changed” with regards to its intention to develop the Foreshore Road site.

It has recently been discovered that earlier this year the council applied for a Certificate of Immunity from Listing for the building.

If granted it would stop any listing attempts, such as the one Ms David and the Save Our Futurist Group have put together, from succeeding.

However, if the council’s request is denied it would lead to the Futurist being statutorily listed automatically.

Campaigners held a meeting this week at the YMCA to try and inform the public and hear their concerns over the plans to knock down the building.

A Scarborough Council spokesman said: "Following Scarborough Borough councillors’ decision in September 2014 to take responsibility for demolishing buildings on the site of the Futurist theatre in Scarborough, a further report on the final cost implications of the Futurist site redevelopment is set to be included on the Full Council agenda early in the New Year.

"The council’s external advisers are currently working with the advisers of Flamingo Land Ltd to ensure that the proposals for the demolition of the existing buildings fully complement the redevelopment proposals.

"The advisers are obtaining further technical information to ensure that the most cost efficient proposals can be considered following completion of the latest ground investigation work and analysis."